Burmese migrants were made to work up to 99 hours a week on unlawful wages and in forced labour conditions at a Tesco Thai factory.

The workers, who are all Burmese migrants who had fled war or left Myanmar in the hope of finding safety and work in Thailand, worked at a garments factory between 2017 and 2020 in various roles including cutting, tailoring, and packing.

The workers are bringing a legal claim against Tesco. The impoverished migrants worked seven days a week, trapped in a cycle of forced labour and debt bondage at a factory. Bosses housed them in unfit and overcrowded conditions where they slept on cement floors with little or no privacy, no locks, walls or ceilings. Pressure to fulfil large orders for Tesco was so intense that workers were often unable to take breaks to eat, drink or go to the toilet, sometimes working through the night in conditions that were hazardous, unventilated and overcrowded. They were given one day off a month, with no holidays. They worked in high temperatures without ventilation, PPE, training, or clean water. There was poor lighting and exposed electrical wiring. Many of the workers suffered personal injuries as a result of these alleged unlawful working conditions and practices.